Opinion Page
THE BRUNSW
Kduard M. Sweat! ami Carol y
Kdwanl M. Sweatl
Susan I'slier
Halm Adams it l)ou? Kutter.
Johnny Craig
Christine Itallou
Carolyn II. Swea^t
Sue Barefoot ?X Tiniberley A<
Tammie Galloway ?t Dorothy
William Manning
Uremia Clemmons
Connie Sprinkle
Clyde and Mattie Stout. lMinel
Page 4-A
GOP's Secoi
This Time, C
Starting Monday, Dec. 5,
sioners take office, Brunsw;
once again has a chance to pi
They had that opportunity
ly, they blew it. Voters can on
ferent. Maybe this time, they
Throughout the campaigi
need for long-range planning,
ment and protecting the env
tion.
The key may well be a mi
ing plus education, plus greal
Based on what the Republ
get done during the coming fo
charge them as follows:
Take the initiative in ad<
Feel free to disagree, but re
Once a decision's made, supp
Conduct business openly,
for solving them in public m
board committees and have th
ed schedule, with prepared ap
Give ordinary citizens an
ing solutions, give them opporl
a talent bank such as thost
Prepare brief job description,
and let interested people applj
and take the best the county ha
Only if this fails, is it time to sa
ones who will serve.
At budget time, be bold:
term, those services that are <
give voters a choice. It might
or develop user fees so that
"frills" also pay for them. Of
what constitutes a frill. That w
to define, again, upfront, not 1
Get busy on important pied,
such as the long-awaited
dinance and establishment of
Plan, yes; but also imple
talking about solid waste disp
example: Review the county 1
the policies and ordinances to
the most part simply don't exi
Take steps to protect and
Again, begin with land use rr
and its tools, such as subdivu
quire or encourage the prese
best management practices t
And start looking seriously at
either private or public enterp
answer.
Educate, educate. Once
discussion, of a direction the
idea. To be effective a leadei
about and be able to sway othe
might be to create a county gc
ing personnel or volunteers fr
Be positive, not vindictivi
spoils. We don't need them.
Above all, act in the long-i
the county. What's good for Oi
might not be what's best for E
Magnifio
It's good to be alive when the hardwood
trees are mottled with brilliant
reds and yellows, and the western
sky is awash with faded purples and
golds at sunset.
Many folks, however, are more in
love with spring, with its buds and
blossoms and flowery fragrances.
Other people?the more practical individuals
among us?revel either in
the warmth of summer or the chill of
winter, depending on their
preferences for heat or cold.
But I've always liked autumn best,
because its beauty is as fragile as the
colored leaf that dangles in the wind,
then silently falls to the ground. I
guess that says I'm neither romantic
nor practical, but a tad manicdepressive
to take such bittersweet
pleasure in endings.
A couple of weekends ago my wife
and I piled into our car and headed
for the North Carolina hills to visit
family and at the same time view the
remnants of what must have been
t
0
1
\
/ICK&BEACON
11 II. S?call I'uhlishers
lulilor
News lulilor
Stuff U nions
Sports lulilor
(Iffice Manager
Ailvertising Director
lams. Advertising IIe/>resenlitlives
Itrcuiiiin Typesetters
I'ressinan
I'hoto Technician
Assistant I'ressinan
?? ('Icinnioiis ('.imitation
Thursday, November 17,1988
id Chance:
)o It Right
when the newly-elected commisick
County's Republican Party
rove its leadership capabilities.
/ once before, in 1972, and frankily
hope that this time will be dif'11
do it right.
1 we heard a lot of talk about the
, restoring confidence in governironment.
Now it's time for acx
of short- and long-range planner
citizen involvement,
ican candidates say they want to
ur years, it's only appropriate to
dressing the county's problems.
;spect each other's viewpoints,
ort the majority view.
Discuss problems and the ideas
leetings. As needed, reactivate
em meet on a reeular arivprtis
U 7 *
[endas.
opportunity to help in developunities
to sei*ve. Why not create
j used in adjoining counties:
s of available appointive posts
Disregard political affiliation
s to offer, which is a great deal,
y that the same few are the only
: Fund?for the short- or longjssential.
For those that aren't,
be to cut to stay within budget,
; those who simply must have
course, not everyone agrees on
ould be up to the commissioners
)ehind closed doors,
ojects begun, but not yet finishrevision
of the subdivision orthe
Clean County program,
ment the plans, whether you're
losal or land use planning. One
and use plan. It reads well, but
back up the goal statements for
ist.
enhance coastal water quality,
lanagement: the land use nlan
w I
sion regulation and zoning. Rervation
of wetlands and use of <
o reduce soil loss and run-off.
sewer system development by
rise. More septic tanks isn't the
convinced, through study and
county should pursue, sell the
r must know what he's talking
rs to the same opinion. One idea
ivernment speakers bureau, usom
key departments.
i. Political spoils are just that,
term, not short-term, interest of
ne special interest group today
irunswick County tomorrow.
ent Sunsets Ai
one of the most beautiful autumns
there in recent years.
Like a couple of slaphappy leafers,
we spent much of the weekend oohing
and aahing over the brightly-colored
trees that lined the winding mountain
roads we traveled. It made no difference
to us that the leaves had
peaked long before we saw them.
On that Saturday morning, our leaf
trek took us to Paddy's Creek, an
area in Burke County at the foot of
Linville Mountain. There we saw i
children playing in the leaves they y
1
It's A Shome 1
To the editor: ru
I refer to Lucy Gibson Keefer's let- it."
ter, "Group Home Deserves A w;
Chance," in the Nov. 3 issue. W
Ms. Keefer offers some good th
arguments for this type of facility. I w<
would go further. I know the location
ot a home which enhances its re
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ABOUT 400 humpback whales are trac
Massachusetts.
A
It was a bright and clear morning
in Gloucester, Massachusetts, when
we boarded the whale watch boat for > h
a 12-mile ride out in the Atlantic in jgj
search of the largest animals on kS
earth.
The crew boasted of a 99 percent \
sighting record over the last five i
years, but I was still a little skeptical.
I was looking forward to the ride on a '
beautiful September morning and en- Gro
joyed the views of the harbor and the a w
distant Boston skyline. Whether or awa
not we found the whales, I figured we son:
would have a fun trip to add to our ex- my
periences. rec(
Before long, Cindy, our leader and clos
a member of the Cetacean Rpseareh tnlrl
re Coast's 'Fall
ted just raked into piles, two free- per
spirited horses galloping together isn'
across a frost-browned pasture, and N
the sheer granite cliffs of Shortoff cro.1
Mountain rising majestically above whe
the Linville Gorge?all with red
backdrops of red, yellow, brown and and
?reen. wit!
Those types of fall scenes used to docl
be common sights for me, and gra;
although I don't think I took them for Oi
'ranted then, they definitely seem at tf
nuch more special now that my per- the:
sonal leaf season has shrunk to 1% bey<
lays that are sandwiched between We
wo six-hour drives. dart
Rllt hUhr thn noof ftim T??.a
? v>vi vuv> t;u.n IVTIS tatio, 1 VC OV.CII
earned that there's more to autumn wou
han pretty leaves, especially here in St
he South Brunswick Islands. suns
If you want to see a breathtakingly wasi
jeautiful fall scene, you don't have to shop
Irive to the mountains or pine away west
it home looking through old photo fron
ilbums at past leaf trips. Just stick Gc
rour head out the window before sup- espe
LETTERS TO T
We Still Don't W
nghborhood. The community liked c<
> neighbors so well that tax money r<
as used to build a $3 million facility, a;
hat a waste?after 10 or 12 years Ci
at property is estimated to be th
jrth only about $10 million. lu
The facility is supported by the m
sidents who work throughout the
f ' K
f
rked by the Cetacean Research Unit
Whale Tale
whi
anc
| \ A
II rou
^ Faver
and
mu
up out of Gloucester, announced abc
hale at 2 o'clock about 1/4 mile spe
ly. I could see some blows and not
le activity but much too far for fan
camera. We had sighted, so the the
>rd was secure; my dreamed-of vin|
:eups seemed very remote. Cindy p
us these were small "pin put
arc
ins
Colors' E
and
and watch the sun set?when it we
t raining, of course. the
ow and then I'm lucky enough to trai
;s onto our beaches at sunset. Wo:
n luminous shades of orange or 0
are mirrored in the waterway ?ff
the reflection shares the surface the
i long shadows made by boat wa:
cs or shrimp trawlers or marsh hur
is. Car
re evening my wife and I lingered ?f f
le western end of Sunset Beach as nor
sun slowly sank below the horizon feiT
)nd Mad Inlet and Bird Island. S>K'
agreed that few artists would I
: to paint that particular sunset anV
IP sinpp nn frnn ronrnfjn^ifinr. I<1 U
?, ....ivv Iiu ki uv lupi \AJUV.UUil ""
Id be believable. the
ill, we saw a copy of that same f 1
;et a couple of weekends ago. It an']
n't in an art gallery or poster out
i; it was spread across the to <
ern sky as we returned home owe
i our weekend leaf excursion. to |
id must be one daring painter, tror
eially in the fall. on i
f
HE EDITOR
font Her Kind
immunity. Not bad for a bunch c
darded people who some don't war
> neighbors. If we, in Brunswic
ounty, don't want them, let's sen
em to Virginia where they wouli
ivc a chance to become productiv
embers of society.
Many of us don't like to talk abou
Wt.\
^*i *"
PHOTO BY Bill FAVER
working out of Gloucester,
ales." We could not get very close
1 they moved on away from us.
iter a few more miles, and
gher seas, we encountered one of
humpbacks. His name was Felix
1 he was one of about 400 whales
eked each season by the Cetacean
search Unit. The markings on his
were his identifying marks,
ch like fingerprints. Felix was
mt 65 feet in length and was a huge
cirnen. Though humpbacks are
the largest species in the whale
lily, we were able to appreciate
enormity of their size from obser
Felix.
or the next 30 minutes or so, Felix
on a show for us. First, he would
h and dive and then raise his tail
peetacular fashion. On several ocions,
he would breach?come
ipletely out of the water head
t. Then he would roll on his back
show his fins. We almost forgot
were observing a wild mammal in
open seas and not watching a
ned animal at Disney World Sea
rid, or the like.
f course, I exposed several rolls
ilm in an effort to catch some of
magic of Felix's antics. Cindy
> telling us about Felix and other
npbacks, how they migrate to the
ibbeari in winter and lost 6-8 tons
at they have stored up from their
therly feedings. She told us of a
rnle and young calf they had
ited a few days earlier.
recommend a whale watch trip
time you have the opportunity. It
good way to experience a part of
animal world usually hidden
n most of us. To see these large
mals actively engaged in living
their lives is the best way I know
levelop a concern for them. We
; it to them and to ourselves to try
protect them and to keep them
n becoming extinct as a species
>lanet Earth.
1
As Neighbors
>f retarded people. We are afraid of
it them. We are ashamed of them. We
k certainly don't want them as
d neighbors. That means we are the
d dumb ones.
e Some of the Brunswick County
natives will remember my sister,
t Odie Mae. Mae's mental development
was arrested at about age four,
a And on top of that, she was epileptic.
Goodness gracious, she had fits!
Because of nrnhlems with fho
* system, the community and the
? nighbors, my folks removed her from
school during the third grade. "Poor
little Mae" was protected by the
family until she was a grown woman.
Then horrors?after our parents died
Mae was placed in a group home. Our
oldest brother and his wife were
responsible for that dasdardly deed.
Some old friends still won't speak to
them. "Poor little Mae" had been put
into the asylum by her own family.
Well, "Poor little Mae" has been in
that awful place for some 15 years,
and I am ashamed to report that she
now reads, writes, and works at a
public job five days a week. Worse
yet, she keeps her own bank account
and is reponsible for it. Shame,
shame?she does her own shopping
and is responsible for what she buys.
She keeps her own room, washes her
own clothes and helps with the cooking
and cleaning at the home. "Poor
little Mae" came to i. family reunion
four years ago and threatened to
whip me when I suggested she didn't
have to pay $200 for her part of the
condo rental fee. Well, what do you
expect from a retarded person?
"Poor little Mae," isn't it terrible
that she is in that uroun home for
retarded adults? Isn't it awful that
her neighbors enjoy having her and
her colleagues in the community?
The worst thing that has happened ,
to my sister is that such facilities
were not available when she was a
youngster. Just think what her potential
might have been. I sure am glad
she left Brunswick County because
we still don't want her kind as
neighbors. I am ashamed of that.
Jess Parker
Supply
How Can This
Be Allowed
..i
To Happen?
To the editor:
We are told that the government is
about to foreclose on 80,000 of our
family farmers. This is complete
destruction of our people, their land,
their homes and their way of life.
How can any political leader sit
still and allow this to happen, when
they vote money to bail out international
bankers and vntp mnnov fnr
foreign aid to support the Zionist occupation
of Palestine, while that
government is carrying out some of
history's most brutal crimes?
Could it be that if our farmers were
beating to death children, old men
and women, and blowing up their
homes, that our political leaders
would support them?
Many people that I talk with about
our farmers and foreign aid believe
that our political leaders have come
under the control of AIPAC, the
Israel political lobby. Now if this is
true, and there are plenty of reasons
to believe it is, then it's no wonder
our government acts in so many
strange ways.
Why not write your political
leaders and ask them who are they
really supporting, and where do most
of their contributions come from. Of
course they will not tell you, but it
might cause them to
think?something they have not done
in years.
W. H. Stanley
Shallotte
Help Combat
Violence On
Television
To the editor:
Television programming has
become more and more violent lately
with programs dwelling on Satanism,
erotic sexual actions and the like.
We, the viewing public, are being
exposed to more and more of these
programs not only in prime time but
during the day on the many talk
shows that are increasing in number.
Just last week, the "Today" show
discussed how Americans are
becoming desensitized to violence
and are watching violence with
lessened emotions?in other words,
they are accepting violence as a way
of life. It was stated that children exposed
to a program of violence
(Continued On Following Page)
t